Chapter 129: Help Me Carry Bricks, Blue
Blue couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter—but the next second, he was met with a furious glare. His smile vanished instantly, and he looked away, pondering life’s mysteries.
Fortunately, the move had been successfully executed. Pidgeot, provoked by Annihilape’s Taunt, flew into a rage.
"Pidge~" Ignoring Blue’s commands, it charged in with Quick Attack—but this time, it was attacking, not dodging.
However, when it struck like lightning, the blow did nothing to Annihilape. And the moment the attack ended, Annihilape grabbed Pidgeot by the wing.
"Annih~" Annihilape slammed it into the ground, then followed up with a punch.
With that single blow, the battle was over. Instant knockout.
Blue was completely numbed. Beyond the shock of how powerful this monkey was, he was baffled by how it could shrug off Quick Attack unscathed after evolving. Don’t tell me it became Ghost-type after evolving?
"Why? Why can it just ignore Quick Attack?" Blue recalled Pidgeot and voiced his confusion to Rio.
The watching trainees, including Mr. Fuji and Cynthia, all turned to look at him. They were equally puzzled by Annihilape’s invulnerability.
"Simple—because Primeape evolved into Annihilape, which is Ghost/Fighting-type. It’s immune to Normal-type moves like Quick Attack. Makes perfect sense," Rio explained with a shrug.
"What?! Primeape evolves into a Ghost/Fighting-type? Why?!" Cynthia exclaimed in disbelief.
"You guess," Rio said, offering no further explanation—because Annihilape had just roared at him. Gengar translated that it was still very angry.
"Hey—hurry up! My Annihilape is getting impatient. If you don’t send out your next Pokémon soon, I’ll consider it a forfeit," Rio called out to Blue.
Blue shot him a venomous glare, then sent out a Level 44 Elite Four–talent Arcanine.
The result: two cries of "Annih~"—the first punch shattered Arcanine’s Flamethrower; the second sent Arcanine flying as Annihilape closed in.
The moment it fell, Rio immediately urged: "Come on, come on—send out your next Pokémon! My Annihilape hasn’t had enough yet!"
Blue was livid. This bastard is using my Pokémon as punching bags to vent his Annihilape’s anger!
But no matter how furious he was, Blue had no choice but to keep sending out Pokémon—this was a bet-everything battle. What if he pulled off a miraculous comeback?
Two seconds later, Alakazam was sent out. Eight seconds later, it was recalled. Rio urged him on.
Thirteen seconds later, Rhydon was sent out. Twenty seconds later, it was recalled. Rio urged again.
Twenty-five seconds later, Exeggutor was sent out. Thirty-two seconds later, it was recalled. Rio kept pressing.
"Go to hell! Can’t you count?! All six of my Pokémon are down!" Blue roared in defeat.
This bastard still wants to use my Pokémon as stress toys. What’s he going to do now? If he’s got any decency, he’ll take it out on his own Pokémon. If he actually does that, I’ll tip my hat to him.
Rio paused, looking at Annihilape, whose rage hadn’t subsided. He knew who was about to take one for the team.
With a flash of light, the Red Gyarados appeared.
"ROAR!!!" It let out a triumphant roar, announcing its presence. Then it looked at the newly evolved Annihilape.
"ROAR!" — Brother Monkey—you evolved! Your punches still feel right, yeah?
Annihilape saw it too. "Annih~" — Brother Dragon—you’ll find out soon enough.
The Red Gyarados willingly offered its tail. Annihilape reached out and took it.
Two seconds later, the scene of the Hulk tossing Loki played out before everyone’s eyes—except it was Annihilape tossing the Red Gyarados.
"ROAR!" — Yes! That’s the spot! The Red Gyarados roared in satisfaction.
"What the..." Blue was utterly bewildered. This Gym Leader actually does that—uses his own Pokémon as a stress reliever for his Annihilape? Isn’t he afraid the Red Gyarados will hate him and turn on him with a Hyper Beam mid-battle?
Then he noticed the trainees watching with calm, unfazed expressions, as if this were completely normal.
"Wait—you all support a Gym Leader like this? Aren’t you afraid he’ll use your Pokémon to vent one day?" Blue shouted at the trainees.
But they just rolled their eyes.
"Tch—ignorant fool."
"I wish—but the Red Gyarados never lets us have a turn."
"Yeah, yeah—clearly you’ve never seen anything. Just pay up already. You bet everything, remember?"
"Weren’t you saying our Gym Leader was all talk? How about now?"
"If you’re out of travel money, we’re hiring laborers at the Gym."
Blue was speechless. He tried to argue, but Rio walked up to him.
"Pay up." Rio smiled.
Blue glared at him, then reluctantly pulled out his phone. A moment later, Rio received 520,000 League coins.
"Thanks." Rio patted Blue on the shoulder. "My Gym is being rebuilt. If you’re short on travel money, you can carry bricks for a while before you leave."
Blue ignored the offer, snapping: "You’d better worry about the Pokémon Police. I’m reporting you for Pokémon abuse!"
"Oh, really?" Rio raised an eyebrow.
By then, the Red Gyarados had been knocked down again. Rio walked over and fed it a Revival Herb. It soon woke up—and immediately sought out Annihilape, which had already calmed down, and offered its tail again.
"See? I didn’t say a word. It came running like you did with your money—can’t stop it. Does that look like abuse to you?" Rio turned to Blue with open hands.
Blue stared at the Red Gyarados, now getting pummeled again, his mouth slightly agape. He felt like his entire worldview of Pokémon was being violated.